TLP Scrap Your Freakin’ Heart Out Contest Entries

The LilyPad has a little scrapping contest going on now, and I decided to play along even though I have no allusions of winning anything. It’s always a fun challenge to get a page done that follows the prompts and guidelines within the required time frame. There are 3 weeks and 3 categories that they are judging the entries on- photography, design and journaling.

The prompt for week 1 was ‘past present future’.
Journaling: I’ve never been much for dressing up. That’s not to say that I didn’t, it just wasn’t very often even as a kid. I remember being Red Riding Hood one year, my red cape and hood were sewn simply from a red towel by my mom. She also made me a witch costume a couple of years later. I watched her cut the fabric and sew the pieces together anxiously and could hardly wait to don it on Halloween night for trick-or-treating. These two costumes were put in storage and while I would occasionally get them out of the box to admire, I don’t remember wearing them much. The only other Halloween costume I remember specifically was the white rabbit outfit I put together myself to go with the ears I purchased that year. Once I got to high school I decided not to bother with dressing up and just went trick-or-treating for Unicef each year as PHS had a class competition. We often got candy along with the money for charity from the houses we stopped at even without dressing up. Homecoming week in high school was filled with different dressup days, but I only rarely participated in those. The picture of Matt and I dressed up for ‘pajama day’ our senior year made the yearbook (probably because it was such a rare sight LOL). Now that I’m a mom I enjoy helping the kids find their costumes for Halloween each year and occasionally I can be talked into putting on something simple for the evening. I’m usually content to stick with some small wardrobe gesture to the current holiday season. I’m just not that comfortable with putting on costumes and pretending to be something other than what I am.
credits:
At The-LilyPad:
Kaye Winieki: Ruby's Room (papers, doll and dress up pieces), The Secret Garden (doll), Where Bluebirds Fly (flower and leaf on purse), Merry and Bright with Kate Hadfield (santa hat and reindeer antlers adapted from elements), Petmania with Holly Griego (angel wings), The First Noel (angel halo)
Amy Martin: Fun Felts Picnic (basket), Messy Ribbons Mix (ribbon tie on red riding hood cape)
Jacque Larsen: Ballet Slippers (wand and tiara)
Rachel Young: white alpha from You Make Me Smile by TLP designers
Kate Hadfield: Friendly Spooks with Tiff Brady (papers, jack-o-lantern)
Kim Jensen at scrapdish: Rich Christmas (jingle bell)
Ztampf! at scrapbookgraphics: Satin Swirls
Tangie Baxter at scrapbookgraphics: Opera House (golden sparkles)
Traci Reed at SweetShoppeDesigns: Bad Sewing Machine XVIII- Kinda Kleen
Christina Renee Designs: Exotic Adventure (leopard)
Flergs at scrapbookgraphics: Flergalicious Felt
fonts: Chromosome Heavy

 

The prompt for week 2 was ‘small medium large’.
I've been talking with my kids a lot lately about how much computers have changed over the years and the things I remembered about them growing up. The word small in the prompt had me singing that well-known little song from Disney (sorry if it is stuck in your head now too! LOL), and this LO is the result of me putting all of that together. 
 
journaling:
    It's a small world after all! As a kid I never would have imagined how this big world that we live in could actually turn out to be so small. Computers in the home were a far-off thought when I was young, most were so big back then that it wasn't even possible. I remember taking field-trips in elementary school to the university computer science building and seeing the computer that took up half of one floor; We were given old punch-cards to take home with us as souvenirs of our visit. A few years later the middle school received a donation of a computer lab from Apple and we had our first experiences with desktop Mac computers. I learned to type on the KayPro personal computer that my mom purchased to use at home for work. It was one of the first portable computers as it could be packed up and carried from place to place. It was about the size of a small suitcase and weighed about 30 pounds. We had a dot-matrix printer to go with it.
    When I started college, 5 1/4" floppy disks were still common, though the smaller 3.5" version of floppies were starting to become more prevalent. Most people still didn't have everyday access to a computer and a lot of students had to go to the university computer labs to type reports and assignments for class. During the year that Mark and I were engaged and he was in Germany while I was in Washington, we wrote letters every day and after putting them in the mailbox waited 7-10 days for them to cross the country and ocean. We talked on the phone once a week too, but that was still quite expensive, so letters were our primary means of communication despite its slow speed.
    In 1992, we bought our first home desktop computer when we returned to Pullman so that I could finish my bachelors degree. It ran Windows 2.0 with 256 kBs of RAM and had a whole 200 MB of hard drive space, which Mark thought would last us a long time. I got my first email account that year as well, and I had to go to the computer science building on campus and sign in to the university main frame computer to check it.
    It's now 2010 and we've continued to upgrade our home computers over the years and there are as many computers in our house as there are people. The calculator that I bought Bryce for his 9th grade Algebra II class this year has more RAM in it than that first computer we bought. I carry a cell phone and can be reached even when I'm not at home. I think nothing of logging onto the internet with my morning coffee to check my email messages, some of which are from friends I chat with daily that happen to live on the opposite side of the planet. The personal computer has revolutionized the world and made it a much smaller place.

credits: at The-LilyPad.com:
Kaye Winieki: Click To Scrap, Some Bunny Loves You (blue paper on planet), Where Bluebirds Fly (houses, circular spots pattern), Cafe Break
Rachel Young: Spell It Simply Alpha
Valorie Wibbons, retired: Fireflies elements (glowing spots)
Pixel Works, retired: Intergalactic Ivan papers (blue and black papers) and elements (stars), Melt My Heart (painted circle paper)
Dani Mogstad at SweetShoppeDesigns: Imperfect Circles
fonts: Arial Narrow

Week 3:  This quote was our inspiration: "Great nations write their autobiographies in three manuscripts: the book of their deeds, the book of their words and the book of their art."
John Ruskin

 
journaling: 2009 was a year of experimenting and learning about photography for me through Project 365- taking a picture every day for a year. I didn’t set out to complete P365 at first, but after a couple months of taking my camera everywhere I was used to having it with me all of the time. I love that I have photos of everything both big and small that happened that year. Even better was that my photography improved during the year as I played with my camera and learned how to use the different modes. I especially focused on using natural lighting and how to take better photos in lower light settings without using the flash. The photos on this page are my favorites, both for composition, lighting or a special moment captured. Dancers of all kinds sharing their love of this art form with those watching, a small bird huddled on the porch during an early snowstorm, nature’s majestic beauty in all seasons, family holiday traditions, and of course the enjoyment of the whole family of these things. My dad was always trying and learning something new throughout his life, I like to think I’m following in his footsteps in this regard.

credits:
at The-LilyPad.com:
TLP Designers: You Make Me Smile Collab
Kaye Winieki: As Leaves Turn, Click to Scrap
Amy Wolffe: Cinnamon Toasted
Gina Miller: Cinnamon Apples
Kate Hadfield: Cinemania with Holly Griego, Whatever the Weather
Pixel Works: Irrevocably in Love, Paint the Town Pink, Set My Soul On Fire, Vintage Papers and Frames, Melts My Heart (retired), Altered Christmas (retired)
Sahlin Studio: Enjoy the Moment, Everyday
Valorie Wibbens: Love Letters

I Can See Clearly layer styles by Misty Cato
fonts: SP Wonderful Wendy

All of the pages submitted each week have been amazing! They can all be seen HERE.

September Scrapping

Goodness, where does the time go? the end of October is sneaking up on me and I haven’t even posted my September scrapping projects yet. Needless to say, all of the kids’ activities are keeping me extremely busy!

 
credits: by Berna Datema at scrapbookgraphics: Colorbook 12x12 Templates, Power Paper Pack 3; cardstock, fiber by Patons, Sharpie pens

For the one in the green frame: I had laser printable transparencies, so I printed the outline version of the one in the green frame out and started trying to color it in. Waterbased markers wouldn't dry on the transparency, half of my large-tipped sharpie pens I was planning on using were dried out (probably because I let the kids use them for an art project they wanted to do), and something about the fine-tip sharpies I had didn't agree with whatever coating was on the transparency to make it printable and the tips kept clogging up. The larger tipped pens definitely worked better. Alcohol inks worked well on it, but I was very limited in color choices and no good brushes to attempt 'painting' with so I stuck with the pens and eventually got it colored in.
The one in the blue frame: I colored in on the computer with Berna's papers and then printed on my inkjet printer. That was interesting since the transparencies weren't designed for inkjet printers. I couldn't get the printer to feed it correctly at first, so finally I stuck it to a regular piece of paper with temporary adhesive and that solved that problem. My printer didn't have a 'transparency' paper option, so I experimented with the different paper settings to get a good color application. Photo paper settings were too heavy since the transparency didn't absorb the ink after it was sprayed on- it was a very heavy ink application so the colors were running together a bit and there was quite a bit of smearing in certain spots as the paper ejected. Draft mode gave a very fine layer of ink that didn't smear, but it was a bit too light. Regular paper mode worked the best for getting a nice layer of color, but again smearing was a bit of a problem though not quite as bad. The ink layer was still wet even after sitting for 30 minutes, so I got out my clear embossing powder and coated the whole square with a layer and then sealed it with heat. This worked well, but the colors did lose a lot of their vibrancy when heated- not sure if that was a property of the type of ink, the transparency, the heat, or some combination of the former. It could be handled at this point though without ruining it, so I could finally cut it out and frame it with cardstock for hanging in the window.

Balloons I was able to get good pictures of at the annual Balloon Classic Labor Day weekend.  credits: A Perfect Day by Flergs and Kaye Winieki at scrapbookgraphics;
fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: Divine Debris by Studio Gypsy at scrapbookgraphics; Foam Stamp alpha by Jessica Bolton (retired); Portraits by Jen Ulasiewicz Photography;
fonts: Chromosome Heavy

  journaling: We were an ocean apart during most of the year of our engagement- Mark in Germany and I in Washington. We hand-wrote and mailed letters nearly every day. The best part of my day was coming home in the afternoon and finding a letter in the mailbox.
(FYI--Unfortunately the stacks of saved letters didn't survive one of our moves across the country.)
credits: Love Blooms Here by Pixel Works, Cut It Out Templates by Amy Martin; Melt My Heart by Pixel Works (I love you button, retired), letters by Vinnie Pearce
fonts: Bradley Hand ITC

  journaling: You can see Monument Valley from miles away. It looms over the surrounding landscape and as you get closer to it, the colors of the desert get brighter and the desert begins to come alive right before your eyes.
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: Blooming Desert by Berna Datema, PreFABs 13-16 by Dutchie; fonts: SP Holy Guacomole

  journaling: Sarah wants a pet so badly. Every dog she sees sets off a round of oohs, aahs, and isn’t he cute? I hate having to say no whenever she gets that pleading look in her eyes as I know how much having a dog of my own meant to me. We just aren’t home enough right now to take care of a pet properly. Maybe someday in the future the time will be right, Sarah.
credits: Pet Mania by Holly Griego and Kaye Winieki at MScraps; Template 13 by Akizo Designs (blog freebie)
fonts: Vaguely Repulsive, 2Peas Dear Diary, Tickets Capital Impressed

  Mark thought I was nuts to take photos of the TV as we were watching the opening ceremonies for the Olympics in February LOL!
journaling: February 12, 2010 the whole family sat down to watch the opening ceremonies for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Canada. It was an amazing show- the gorgeous effects, dancing, music, and Canadian history in a beautiful visual show. It was a fun way to learn more about our northern neighbors!
credits: by Pixel Works at The-LilyPad: I Am Canadian Papers and Elements, Blustery Day (snowflakes, retired), Wear a Flower In Your Hair Alphas (retired); September Template Challenge Freebie by Amy Martin; fonts: Typewriter

 
credits: at scrapbookgraphics: My Baby Girl by SussieM, PreFABs Booklet No. 3 by Dutchie; fonts: Zapf Chancery

journaling: We’ve lived many places around the world, and while we still miss the places in Washington where we grew up, we are now proud to call Colorado home. I’ve become quite attached to this beautiful state with its rugged mountains that glow in the fall with golden aspen leaves.
credits: by Pixel Works at The-Lilypad: Kitschy Fall Papers and Kitschy Stitchy Fall Doodles, Big Stampy Alphas, Irrevocably In Love (music stamp)
fonts: CK Cursive, CK Journaling Condensed

 

journaling: For several years Mark has wanted to hike the 14-ers in Colorado- those are the mountains that are over 14,000 ft. tall. He’s been hiking the incline and Barr Trail to get in shape. He’s been up and down Pikes Peak several times and has now started hiking some of the other nearby mountains. He has made it to the top of Mt. Shavano & Tabeguache Peak on September 4, 2010 and Mount of the Holy Cross on September 11, 2010.
Photos taken on Barr Trail and the top of Pikes Peak on September 23, 2005
credits: Impressions of Adventure by The Studio Girls at scrapbookgraphics;
fonts: TXT Scribbletti, LD Beatnik

 
credits: Precious Memories by Manuella Zimmermann and Laitha at scrapbookgraphics; fonts: Zapf Chancery